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While it's ironic that
the cover photo to this book doesn't show the "chef's" fingers
curled back in the usual "cutting stance" manner (not to mention
that "chef's" hand are devoid of the usual scars), I found this
book an enjoyable and informative read.
Chef Tom Colicchio oversees New York's famed Gramercy
Tavern, Craft restaurants (Craft, Craftsteak,...
see links on the lower right). In his book,
Think Like a Chef, Colicchio's approach is to explain the
differences between between adhering to a recipe and truly
cooking. He provides almost 100 recipes that concentrate on
teaching the home cook how to improvise in the kitchen. This
"technique" lies in building a repertoires of dishes based on
key ingredients, learning basic cooking techniques and skills,
and understanding the potential of each ingredient. Colicchio
focuses first on the five basic techniques of roasting,
braising, blanching, stock making, and sauce making. He then
goes on to describe a chef’s creative methods of working from
one single ingredient outward to many.
I'm a creative home cook. I don't do foie gras and some of
the other fancy things he describes in the book. (Probably
because I don't have prep cooks or a huge food budget.) Whenever
I encounter a wild leek, I call it a wild leek, not a ramp.
Yet, despite the differences between Colicchio's approach, I
read every word of his book and enjoyed (and learned from)
everything I read.
Colicchio says: "I
wrote the book for the home cook who has been cooking for a few
years and who is ready to start experimenting and start going
out on their own. When you finish this book you will have more
of an understanding of how ingredients work together and the
cook will have a freedom from using recipes. Instead of tracking
down a long list of ingredients, you can go to the market and
see what's great and come home and cook."
Mr. Colicchio wants cooks like yourself to understand what makes
up a dish so you can adapt and adjust recipes to your own tastes
and to the availability of seasonal products. Take roasting, as
an example. After learning the principles behind roasting a
chicken (recipe below), you can move on to a pan-roasted striped
bass (recipe below), and a pan-roasted lobster with bay leaf.
Braising, blanching, stock- and sauce-making are given their own
sections. I've also provided a link below to Colicchio's method
for roasting mushrooms.
This book deserves a space on your cookbook shelf!
Recipes and
Instructions from:
Think Like a Chef by Tom Colicchio
Roasted chicken
How to truss a
chicken: Cut a long piece of butcher's twine (available at
most supermarkets), about 3 feet long, and loop the center
around the narrowest part of each leg, pulling the ends tightly
to bind the legs together. Bring both ends of twine along the
breast, nestling it between the breast and the legs, go around
the outside of the wings with each end of the twine, then draw
the string up to the nub at the chicken's neck. Cross the ends
of the string over the nub. Holding both the strings and the
nub, turn the bird over onto its breast. Tie the ends of the
string into a tight knot at the nub of the neck.
Makes 4 servings
1 (3- to 3-1/2-pound)
free-range chicken
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 sprigs of fresh rosemary
2 sprigs of fresh thyme
1 tablespoon peanut oil
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
Coarse sea salt
1. Heat the oven to
375ºF.
2. Rinse the chicken
and dry thoroughly with paper towels. Cut off the last joint of
the wings and discard. Season the chicken liberally inside and
out with kosher salt and pepper, place the rosemary and thyme
inside the cavity, then truss.
3. Heat the oil in a
large, heavy, ovenproof skillet over medium heat until it moves
easily across the pan. Place the chicken on its side in the
skillet and brown, about 7 minutes. Turn and brown the other
side, about 7 minutes more. Place the chicken breast-side up and
transfer the skillet to the oven. Roast for about 20 minutes,
then add butter. Continue roasting, basting occasionally, until
the thigh juices run clear, about 30 minutes more.
4. Remove the chicken
from the oven and cover loosely with aluminum foil. Allow the
chicken to rest for 10 to 15 minutes, then carve and serve
sprinkled with coarse sea salt.
--
Pan-roasted striped
bass
Any firm-fleshed fish
(halibut, cod, snapper, salmon, grouper, etc.) can be
substituted for the bass. Just make sure the fillets are about 1
inch thick.
Makes 4 servings
2 tablespoons peanut oil
4 1-inch-thick, center-cut striped bass fillets (6 ounces each),
skin on
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 to 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 sprigs of fresh thyme
Coarse sea salt
1. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat until it
slides easily across the pan. Dry the fillets thoroughly with
paper towels, season them with kosher salt and pepper on both
sides, then add them, skin-side down, to the skillet. Reduce the
heat (the oil should sizzle, not sputter) and cook the fillets
until the skins crisp, about 3 minutes. Turn the fillets and
gently brown the other side, about 3 minutes more.
2. Add the butter and thyme. Continue cooking the fillets,
turning them over once or twice (so that they brown evenly) and
basting with the lightly browning butter. Cook until the fish is
opaque, about 4 minutes more. Serve at once, drizzled with the
browned butter and sprinkled with coarse sea salt.
--
My partner at Gramercy
Tavern, Danny Meyer, likes to say that the best way to get
people to try something new is to let them know it is roasted.
The term manages to conjure comfort food and adventurous cooking
simultaneously, along with an image of gorgeously browned edges
and caramelized flavor. Lamb, beef, pork, venison, rabbit,
squab, chicken and turkey, foie gras, whole fish, fish fillets,
lobster, almost every vegetable: you name it, I roast it.
Roasting, simply put, is cooking with dry heat, traditionally
over or in front of an open flame. Most often, the word "roast"
implies oven cooking, but I use the word as shorthand for both
oven roasting and pan roasting. They are both the exact same
technique, but oven roasting, as the name implies, involves
transferring the pan to a hot oven to complete the process. Pan
roasting finishes the food in the same pan, on top of the
stove.
Basic roasting technique
These steps apply to pan roasting and oven roasting alike.
1. Brown the food on top of the stove, in a pan with a small
amount of oil, at about medium heat. Browning helps to get the
cooking started, moves the juices toward the center of the
roast, and ensures a nicely cooked exterior. Don't worry about
the food sticking to the pan during this step. If you pat it
completely dry first, use only medium or medium-high heat, and
be patient, the food will release itself from the pan when it's
browned. You'll know when you've attained the correct heat by
the "sound" of the pan: The oil should sizzle, but not pop and
sputter, as the food cooks.
2. Avoid using high heat, both on the stove and in the oven
(temperatures of 325° F. to 375° F. usually work best). Although
it is tempting to roast at a high heat, you'll get the best
results in terms of flavor and texture by treating the
ingredients gently. Contrary to what many recipes say, you do
not need to start the oven at a higher temperature, then lower
it halfway through.
3. Add some butter to the pan about three-quarters of the way
through cooking. It will melt quickly and commingle with the
juices from the roast, creating a liquid for basting. This is
usually when I add some herbs to the pan. Baste the roast with
the liquids in the pan.
4. Let the food rest. The juices will have been forced to the
center by the heat. During the resting period they will have a
chance to redistribute themselves. If you've properly basted the
roast, the outer flesh will have no problem reabsorbing these
juices. You can omit this step for fish and vegetables. It only
seems complicated on the page. In practice it is anything but.
Just keep repeating to yourself: Brown, gently roast, baste,
rest.
Example illustrations from
Think Like a Chef: |
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